I like all of my clients to have a technology toolbox that can be used for when things go wrong.  These tools may be physical in nature or could take the form of strategies / practices. 

One tool that I think all of you should have is an operating system USB install disk.  Years ago your operating systems were installed via a DVD.  A DVD drive is no longer needed. Windows 10 or the latest mac OS can be copied onto a USB flash drive.  This disk can be very helpful for when the operating system needs to be reinstalled.    When a computer is really sick and it’s clearly a software problem, nothing works better than a clean install from a USB install disk.  For those of you who have never heard of the term clean install.  A clean install involves backing up your important files, erasing the hard drive, and reinstalling the operating system (whether that be Mac or Windows). 

Many of you already have one of these installer disks.  Keep in mind that the disks need to be updated about every 6 to 12 months.  You will want the latest operating system version available for your computer programmed onto that disk.  Creating the disk takes roughly 30 minutes.

Windows — All it takes is running the Windows 10 media creation tool.  It is available directly from Microsoft.  You will be asked to plug in a USB flash drive during this process.  https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

Mac — You will need to download the current OS from the App Store.  The current one is mac OS Sierra (10.12).  Then you will need to download and run a nifty tool called Disk Maker X. http://diskmakerx.com/ You will be asked to insert a USB flash disk while running Disk Maker X. 

But for those situations when you still need to play DVDs…

Unless you buy a thick laptop, usually in a 15 + size, or a desktop tower, you won’t have a DVD drive in your new computer. However, you may still have a need to play or create DVDs on your computer, I would recommend this LG slim USB DVD player on Amazon.  http://amzn.to/2rL2Y1R

It is compatible with both Mac and Windows systems.  These drives would also be an appropriate replacement for a broken CD / DVD drive.

Gold star if you can create / update your installer disk.